Monkeys on typewriters

[Lucía del Castillo]

"Um... detective del Castillo? I'm done with all the paperwork!"

Ashley's bright voice broke through the confused and semi-irritated bubble that had surrounded Luce for the past half hour. She looked up at the young rookie--her young rookie--as he plonked down a huge stack of paperwork. It almost made her desk shake.

"You can call me Luce," she said tiredly as she flicked half-heartedly through the first couple of pages in the stack.

"Um... I-I... it makes me feel uncomfortable calling you by your first name," Ashley confessed, looking shame-faced. He grinned in a little-boy way, the kind of apologetic hand-in-the-cookie jar type of smile that made the corners of Luce's mouth tug up. "Sorry..."

"It's fine, it's fine." She waved off his apology. It was a cultural thing, she got that. He wanted to show respect. "At least stick with just detective, huh?" Her smile was warmer as she glanced up from the pile, satisfied that he had done a good job. Just staring at the pile was giving her a headache. Or maybe that was Gael. Both, probably.

"Okay! Um. If there's nothing else, can I go now?"

"Sure. Actually, I'll walk you out. I was heading out myself."

Ashley hovered as she grabbed her jacket and slung her bag over one shoulder, stuffing her badge and a couple of case files into it for later, to peruse at home during the evening. What else was she going to do? Her days mostly consisted of working, grabbing a quick bite, going back to work and then more work. This whole brothel attack business was a major pain in the ass for everyone in the department and the higher ups were demanding answers that nobody even had.

And Gael was being mysterious, as he was wont to, which only added to the stress piling up to her eyeballs. After grabbing her car keys, she headed out with Ashley.

"Doing anything interesting tonight, Ash?" she asked conversationally as they entered the elevator.

"Uhh... yeah, kinda." Ashley's smile broke free of his obvious struggle to keep a straight face. It seemed like it wouldn't be contained. "I'm going on a date. With my... with somebody I've known for a long time."

Luce smiled, laughed softly. Ashley was a good rookie, hard-working and eager to please--but also eager to distinguish himself. No ego, though. And a genuine desire to help, which she liked to see. He reminded her of herself when she'd just joined the force, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and all ready to make a difference. "That's cute. Have a good time."

"Yeah! I--it'll be good! How about you?"

"I'm just going to grab a coffee with a friend."

"Ooh! Is it a da--"

"No." She cut him off before he had a chance to start, squashing that idea firmly. "It's just coffee."

"Ahhhh..." Ashley nodded. "I see, I see."

Did he? What did he see? Luce raised a brow at him, about to question what he saw, but the elevator dinged and they were let off at the front. Luce waved good-bye to the officer manning the front desk, tapped out and allowed Ashley to chivalrously open the door for her. "See you tomorrow Ash."

"Bye detective de--detective!"

Luce laughed and turned to unlock her car. Detective detective... Still sounded less stiff than detective del Castillo, though.